A drawing of an ornate, red and gold Mayan-inspired stepped design for a bracket lighting fixture. The shape takes the form of an upward pointing arrow, with a triangle shape at the top made up of thirteen cream oblong shapes, elaborately decorated in gold geometric patterns, set against a striped ruby red panel. In the center of the triangle, where the stem extends downwards, is a gold rectangular shape with a face at the top wearing three gold feathers that spill out above the bottom line. Two of the oblong shapes, one in from each edge of the bottom line of the triangle, are further decorated with long gold scrolls that hang downwards. In the center of the triangle a long stem flows downwards, formed from three cream oblong shapes decorated in gold, and set against thicker ruby red paneling. The downward stem is crossed with two horizontal lines, one at the center and one at the bottom, formed from two and four cream oblong shapes decorated with gold. At the very bottom of the stem is a gold heraldic head, with ruby red feathered details. The fixture is set aginst a cream brick wall. A side view sketch and annotations in graphite can be found on the left and at the bottom.

See more objects with the tag interior design, fantasy, theatrical, lighting design, mayan.

Object Timeline

	We acquired this object.
0	Work on this object ended.
1928	Work on this object began.
2017	We photographed this object. We exhibited this object.
2024	You found it!

Object ID #890290255

This is a Drawing.

This object is not part of the Cooper Hewitt's permanent collection. It was able to spend time at the museum on loan from Smithsonian Libraries and Archives as part of The Jazz Age: American Style in the 1920s.

It is dated 1928. Its medium is gouache on paper. It is a part of the Smithsonian Libraries department.

The Mayan-inspired theater in Detroit’s Fisher Building featured fountains, archways, live birds, and lighting fixtures with stepped decoration designed by E. F. Caldwell & Company. Reflecting the period’s fascination with pre-Columbian art, Mayan motifs were among the most popular decorating schemes used for American movie palaces.

It is credited Smithsonian Libraries, Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Library.

Vertical gouache [method of painting using opaque pigments ground in water and thickened with a gluelike substance] of a lighting fixture in golden brass and red. Three gold ropes hold a tiered chandelier composed of lined columns interspersed with flowing cut-outs of rooted, ornamental vines, revealing a brilliant red interior. There are three stepped levels at the top of the chandelier, with a single column protruding from the bottom and capped with a decorative, crown finial. The object appears to glow from the drawing. Seen from above and below, the chandelier is octagonal in shape with a rectangular center, as faintly depicted on the right side of the main drawing at the top and bottom of the drawing. Annotations of scale, plan, and object number 'A66795' are neatly printed in standard capital letters for architectural drafting. The drawing, showing tears at each corner, is framed by a black taped border and frame.

Object ID #890290257
gouache on paper.
Smithsonian Libraries, Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Library.
43.2016.4

Object ID #890290261
gouache on paper.
Smithsonian Libraries, Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Library.
43.2016.6

Large oil-on-canvas mural panel completely filled with a rich, fanciful, brightly colored, detailed scene of a bower or garden with a blooming tree and colorful birds surrounded by eleven human figures in theatrical poses and boldly patterned costumes that blend into a joyful background illustrated with a fantasy of berries, flowers and leaves, a leaping gazelle and the outline of a village along a semicircular line. Four of the human figures wear headdresses, including cone-shaped hennins with veil and a starched cornette wimple that remind of medieval characters. A figure in the upper right corner holds an arrow and bow in a cupid-like manner; a couple captured in a curtsy holds hands, another couple is in a lateral embrace, one figure holds up a net as if hunting a bird, the woman wearing a wimple sleeps, and three seated figures with harlequinesque costumes either observe or hold their hands close to their face in an expression of surprise. The lively and colorful scene is depicted in styilized and simplified manner and feels flat with no perspective. The background is subdivided in boldly colored, curved, puzzle-like areas.

Object ID #907131605
oil on canvas.
The Collection of Richard H. Driehaus, Chicago.
49.2016.1

Our curators have highlighted 1 object that are related to this one.

These two dress clips are pictured as one piece with a connecting silver bar in between two studded, identical dress clips. Studded with intricate, white diamonds, the pins are spade-like or leaf-like shapes with rectangular steps in the middle. The four-tiered pyramid steps start with two base rectangles with a space in between, three horizontally-stacking rectangles on top of those, and a small square beneath the main, vertical rectangle. Surrounding the central design are the bundled studs, comprising on the spade-like design, stacking like pyramids to the very top circle diamond. Flanking the centrally-stacked rectangles are two curving scroll shapes with small tiers touching the edges, created by the negative space of the smaller studs. At the very bottom of the spade are three overlapping triangles. The spades mirror each other but are connected by a small silver post between them.

Object ID #907130399
diamonds, platinum.
Private Collection.
41.2016.14a,b

Its dimensions are

L x W: 91.4 × 71.1 cm (36 × 28 in.) L x W: 76.2 × 51.2 cm (30 in. × 20 3/16 in.)

This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibition The Jazz Age: American Style in the 1920s.

Short URL http://cprhw.tt/o/2mEYgZ/
Accession Number 43.2016.3
Object ID 890290255